


Love and Fear

by ROOMBA_FIERCE



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: (only a little), Angst, Everyone's happy, F/F, Fluff, Happy Ending, Idiots in Love, Significantly More Fluff Than Angst, what do you know
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-28
Updated: 2019-05-28
Packaged: 2020-03-26 07:28:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 11,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19001164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ROOMBA_FIERCE/pseuds/ROOMBA_FIERCE
Summary: Things Change. In one world, Shadow Weaver is a little faster, a little more violent. In one world, everything is different





	1. A Choice is Made

 

_“This isn’t because I like you.”_

It happened faster than Catra could react, and that was damn fast. Adora had just done her glowy transformation thing, the one that made Catra’s multi-colored eyes sting, and had been a second away from busting herself and the little princess out of the prison.

But then…

“It’s finally time I rid myself of a pest.” She heard Shadow Weaver snarl it from behind her, saw the She-Ra’d Adora’s eyes widen, but she couldn’t move fast enough.

Adora could. The sword flashed into a shield, and she pulled Catra behind her and took the full power of Shadow Weaver’s dark magic, the shield too low to absorb all of it. Adora was thrown back, her oversized body cracking against the closed door as Shadow Weaver crumpled, in clear pain.

Catra glanced between Adora, her enemy, her friend, the one who had just saved her life, the annoying little shit of a princess that stood by her, frantically trying to check on her new ‘friend,’ and Shadow Weaver, the one in her way to more power in the Horde, the one who could catapult Catra to new heights within the army if she just played her cards right. Adora, Shadow Weaver, those were her choices.

Adora, who had been by her side from day one, who had left her behind for new power and new friends. Shadow Weaver, who had treated Catra like dirt since before Catra even thought to ask why, who Catra could now get her vengeance on. Adora, who’d just saved her life. Shadow Weaver, who’d just tried to take it. Adora. Shadow Weaver.

Adora.

Catra snarled, turning from the crumpled sorceress, shoving Glitter, or whatever her name was out of the way, reaching down to feel Adora’s pulse with far more tenderness than she would ever admit to.

“What are you-” the princess started to demand and that in itself infuriated Catra.

“Shut up if you want to live.” She snarled, and as she did so there was another, dimmer, flash of light, and Adora was laying in front of her, her whole left side scorched by Shadow Weaver’s magic. She was breathing shallowly, but breathing all the same, and that was the important thing.

Catra didn’t bother with the control panel. The door had almost buckled under the force of She-Ra being flung against it, and with a well placed kick, Catra finished the job. She slung Adora over her shoulders, her breath catching in her throat when she heard Adora whimper in pain as Catra touched her burns.

Just as she reached for a different grip, she heard Shadow Weaver speak.

“Why?” She groaned. “Why leave, when you could have had so much more. When you can have so much more?”

Catra turned halfway, enough to look at Shadow Weaver in her crumpled heap. From the way Glimmer tensed up and clenched her fists, Catra could tell the little princess thought she would carry Adora back into the Horde prison.

“We look out for each other.” Catra said. “Something you never did.”

“I raised you.” Shadow Weaver growled. “I made you something when you were nothing! Why choose her, after everything she’s done? After she left you?”

Catra shook her head. “You’ll never get it.” She said. “It’s always going to be her. Always.”

And then there was a ragged handful of rebels on a skiff, and Catra leapt, easily making it onto the airship even with Adora’s added weight. The princesses aboard briefly readied their combined magics, before seeing Catra lower Adora to the deck softly. Glimmer rejoined them after a pause, kneeling by Adora, and not so subtly taking Catra’s place.

She clenched her teeth, standing and pushed the idiot with a mustache away from the skiff’s throttle, steering them to the Whispering Woods. Into enemy territory, which was fine, Catra didn’t intend to stay for long.

“Cat… Catra?” Adora whispered. She barely heard it over the skiff’s engine and the whistling of the wind, but it was there, and Adora was awake and talking,  so she couldn’t be dead. Catra could have cried right there. She nearly did. Glimmer took a few steps back from Adora, looking almost hurt at her friend’s words.

Catra dropped the throttle, ignoring the man who took up her old place and kept them going, and all but ran to Adora’s side, kneeling where Glimmer had been, reaching out to Adora.

“Hey Adora.” Catra said, because she couldn’t find anything else to say as she reached out, putting a hand on Adora’s shoulder, carefully avoiding the magic burns. Burns, she realized, that were already starting to heal. Whatever magic She-Ra left Adora must have been helping her recover.

“Catra.” Adora said, taking her hand with a faint smile, though it looked as though it pained her. “Sorry about this.”

Catra felt tears welling in her eyes. She turned her head, blinking furiously. Adora may have seen them, but that didn’t mean the rest of the princesses needed to. “Don’t…” Catra had to pause to gather herself, “Don’t do that again. Ever.”

Adora’s smile grew, but she winced and it was gone. “I had to.” She said. “It was you or me.”

“So choose yourself.” Catra hissed, but she kept Adora’s hand in hers. “Don’t get yourself killed for me. I’m your enemy. Why can’t you chose yourself?”

Adora smiled, but didn’t speak. Catra understood why she didn’t chose herself, of course she did. She’d said the words herself not an hour ago, hadn’t she?

It’s always going to be her. Always

“Dammit, Adora.” Catra said, lowering her head.

She heard Adora wheeze, and realized the girl was trying to laugh. There were tears in Catra’s eyes again, and she almost let them fall. There was so much going on in her head, so many thoughts. Too many. Adora can’t even laugh, she thought, and she’s hurt, and it's my fault.

“Hey, hey, Catra.” Adora said, reaching out with her burned hand, grimacing all the way, to wipe a tear off of Catra’s cheek. Catra hadn’t even realized she’d finally lost control of her tears. “It’s gonna be fine. We’re gonna be fine.”

Catra shook her head, trying to right herself. “You’ll be fine.” She growled with far more force than she’d intended, but the weight of what she’d just done, of who she was with, had finally hit her. She dropped Adora’s hand. “You have your new friends. I have to find a way to survive this, and I’ve got no one.”

“Catra.” Adora said, and she could hear the hurt in Adora’s voice, but Catra turned from her, forcefully.

“I am not joining your rebellion. I’m done with princesses.” She took a step away, almost running through the man to stood to block her. “Hey, we can-”

“Get. Out. Of. My. Way.” Catra snarled at him, showing her fangs.

For a second, Catra thought he wouldn’t. But, of course, Adora was there. “Bow,” she breathed, out, and Catra could feel the hurt in her voice. “Let her go.”

He did, shrinking back towards the princesses, who again looked as though they were getting ready to fight. They lowered their fists though, when Catra secluded herself on the back of the skiff, as far away as she could get from the rest of them. She kept her eyes fixed on the horizon, and the growing mass that was the Whispering Woods, refusing to look to Adora, even though she could occasionally feel the other girls gaze.

Catra cursed herself. She shouldn’t have done this, shouldn’t have even wanted to betray the Horde as Adora had. She should have been a good soldier, and used a recaptured Glimmer and Adora and a defeated Shadow Weaver as a way to get higher in the ranks, maybe even replace the old crone. She should have.

But, as she thought back to the moment when she made her choice, tried to remember the way Adora looked, tried to convince herself that there was the possibility she could make a different one, she knew the truth.

It was always going to be Adora. Before herself, before the Horde, before anything. Always.

 Adora. Before herself, before the Horde, before anything. Always.


	2. I'll Go With You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Catra has made her choice, and with no where else to go, follows through

They didn’t make it all the way to Bright Moon, which was just fine with Catra. She hadn't spoken another word to anyone, not even Adora, and when Glimmer announced they were out of fuel, the rest of the princesses made the decision to rest. Having to limp Adora home would slow down their journey by hours, and night had already fallen.

Catra was almost relieved. She could just wait for enough of them to fall asleep, and then she could slip off. She could. She should.

But she didn’t, and it wasn’t entirely her fault.

Back in the barracks, there was a reason she slept with Adora. The Horde frowned on any weakness, and nightmares were no excuse. Catra didn’t have any, had never had any. But Adora was another story. She’d had terrors for as long as Catra had known her, as did many of the children in the barracks.

They all had their ways of dealing with them. Most of the time, it was just hit extra hard the day after. For Adora though… Her way to deal with them had been Catra. Catra would curl up next to her, occasionally holding the shorter girl, keeping he dreams at bay as best she could.

The dreams had never stopped, and Catra could never tell when Adora would poke her awake with sad eyes and a nervous smile, asking to slip into her bunk, or for Catra to come into hers. So, after a few months, Catra had made the choice to always sleep with Adora, most of the time at her feet, though sometimes under the covers with her. It hadn’t been romantic, not for the most part. Adora had needed her, and Catra had been there.

There were a few nights, though, when Catra thought, just maybe, there might be something more there. But then Adora had left, and it had become an unimportant side note.

Sleeping with Adora was a habit, one that was hard to break. Catra still hadn’t gotten used to sleeping alone in the weeks since Adora had left, and, for the first time in years, she’d had nightmares. She hated it, hated the terror, hated seeing Adora leave her over and over again. Hated seeing Adora die. Those dreams… she tried to put them behind her, but she never could. They were terrifying. Catra didn’t wish them upon anyone.

When everyone save herself had fallen asleep, Catra made to make her escape. Adora would be fine without her. Her burns were already healing, thanks to whatever She-Ra left her. It would have been to easy to kill one or all of the princesses, but Catra didn’t do that. Too much fear of retribution, and the toll it would take on Adora…

Catra wouldn’t do that to her. But as she left, climbing up a tree, kneeling on a branch, taking one last look back to Adora’s sleeping form, she heard the whimper.

It came from Adora. Catra looked to her, than back, looking out into the forest and lowered her head. Can nothing be easy? She thought, steeling herself to jump into the night, leaving Adora to whatever dream had taken her.  But then she heard the whimper again, and she just… She couldn’t do it.

Instead, Catra flipped backwards, landing silently, stalking over to Adora, looking down on her, her heart breaking just a little bit when she saw the tears trying to squeeze out from behind her eyelids.

Catra knelt, reaching down, shaking the girl awake, falling into an old pattern in a new place. Adora woke quickly, eyes wide and still full of tears, tears that only multiplied when she saw Catra kneeling over her.

Adora reached up, pulling Catra into a bone-crushing hug, sending a blush over Catra’s face. “Adora…” She whispered.

“I’m sorry.” Adora whispered back, and it was clear she hadn’t heard Catra. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s... “ Catra started as Adora only pulled her tighter, one hand in her hair, the other around her back. “It’s okay, Adora. You did what you had to do.”

Adora sobbed, and Catra reached out, running one hand trough Adora’s hair, wiping her tears away with the other. “I left you.” Adora whispered, as the sobbing began to abate. “I left you with her, alone. I shouldn’t have left.”

For a terrible second, Catra almost agreed, almost screamed the anger she’d felt for the past weeks out. But then she saw the tear streaks on Adora’s face, the look in her eyes, and it faded.

“It’s okay.” Catra said, and it was, because they were together again. “We’re back together.” She shifted them so that they were laying side by side, faces inches apart. “We’re together. That’s all that matters.”

Adora pulled her into another hug, and Catra felt an odd fluttering in her stomach. Catra did her best to ignore it, instead retuning the hug, allowing Adora to fall asleep against her as she rubbed slow circles in the girls back.

Catra stayed awake longer than Adora, enjoying the feeling of being this close to her again, breathing in her scent. Eventually, though, even she needed sleep. Slowly, the familiarity of Adora’s breathing lulled Catra to sleep.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

She woke early the next morning, far earlier than she would have liked. Her brain took a second to figure out what was going on. That was Adora holding her, which wasn’t odd, but something was off. It shouldn’t have been that light in the barracks, and they didn’t have a drill today, or she didn’t think they did.

“Adora, what’s going on…” She groaned out, tugging Adora closer to her. All she got was a stifled grunt in response.

They weren’t sleeping in one of their bunks, either, for some reason. Had they gone sneaking off after curfew again and fallen asleep in some quiet corner?

“We need to get moving. Just wake them up.” She heard, and Catra tried to puzzle out who’s voice it was. Not Kyle’s, nor any of the cadets, surly, but who?

“Sure, you wake up the scary cat lady. I’ll just stand over here.”

What had happened over the past few weeks, and in the past day hit her like a stun blast. Catra’s eyes snapped open, but she stopped herself from jerking up when she realized Adora was still asleep.

“Hey, Latra,” there was bite in her voice, and Catra was damn sure the princess remembered her real name, “whatever your name is. Can you wake up? We need to get to Bright Moon.” It was Glimmer, the Princess who had been rebuilding the Alliance. The one Catra had caught, so she assumed she deserved whatever anger was directed at her. That didn’t mean she had to like it, though.

“It’s Catra.” She said giving Glimmer a sharp glance over Adora’s sleeping form, trying to untangle herself from Adora without waking the girl. It was a futile attempt, though, mainly because Adora’s hand was buried somewhere in Catra’s hair, and Catra’s was still tangled in Adora’s.

As it was, Catra only managed to wake Adora, which wasn’t all bad. She got to watch Adora groggily open her eyes, and them smile softly as she realized who was lying opposite her. “Hey, Catra.” She said, still wearing that small, stupid smile.

She could see when Adora realized where they were, and what had happened over the past weeks. Her eyes widened, if only by a fraction, before her smile grew even further. “Hey, Catra.” She whispered again, pulling the woman lying across from her into yet another hug.

Catra didn’t struggle away, instead enjoying the hug, and the feeling of being close to Adora again. But, after a minute or so, she did say, “Adora, uh, other princesses.”

That was enough for Adora to let her go. “Right. Hey, guys, this is Catra… Which you probably already know…” She trailed off awkwardly, blushing, sitting up as Catra did the same, scooting away.

Catra stood, glancing between the princesses and their two compatriots, noticing something was off. She hadn’t really cared before, but…

“Isn’t there a fifth princess in your rebellion?” She asked with a sneer. “Did you lose her or something?”

She could tell they were the wrong words somewhere around the teleporting princess punching her in the gut, but realized they were a mistake when the blonde one nearly crushed her with vines.

“Hey, what is going on!” Adora said, pulling Glimmer back as the plants receded, putting herself between the princesses and Catra. “And where is Entrapta?”

The princesses went silent, and the one with the bow tried to speak, but failed.

“No…” Adora breathed. Glimmer could only nod.

“She…” The blonde started. “She got caught in one of the rooms, and then there was fire, and then we had to go…”

Catra realized the blonde was crying. She felt a pang of pity, but it was quickly cut of when the one with water powers spoke.

“Maybe this is why the Alliance failed last time.” She said. “When we’re together, we’re not stronger. We’re weaker.”

“What?” Glimmer asked. “That’s not-”

“I think Mermista is right.” The blonde said. “I think… I think it's time we went back to our own kingdoms.  Now is not the time for an Alliance. Not when it only leads to death.”

“No!” Adora said, but Catra could tell their minds were already made up. That didn’t stop Adora from trying, of course, but they both left, Mermista on the skiff with the mustachioed man, and the blonde vanishing into the forest.

In the end, it was just her, Glimmer, Adora, and the bowman.

“We’ll start again.” Glimmer promised Adora. “We’ll rebuild, but… We have to mourn, first.”

Adora nodded, but Catra could tell it would take more than empty promises to comfort her. As the bowman and Glimmer led the way deeper into the forest, Adora paused for a second, allowing them to walk out of earshot. Then, she turned to Catra. “I’m…” She paused. “I’m going back. Back to Bright Moon. I know you don't want to join the rebellion, but if you need a place to sleep, it’s… surprisingly easy to sneak into. My window is always open.”

As she turned away, Catra ran to her, putting a hand on her shoulder. Adora turned halfway, meeting her eyes.

“I may not be a part of the rebellion, but I’m going with you.” She said. “I’ll sneak in when we get there, but… For now, I’ll go with you.”

 


	3. Leaving

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adora is forced to make a choice, and does what she thinks is right

Glimmer made it clear she did not like the fact that Catra was following them, but the bowman didn’t seem to mind, and Adora made it clear that Glimmer would have to go through She-Ra before she got to Catra. By the time the gates of Bright Moon came into view, Catra was almost glad to escape Glimmer’s hostility, at least for a little bit.

After a see you later, Adora, Catra stalked off from the group. Adora hadn’t been kidding when she’d said it would be easy to sneak in. The guards were almost pitiful in number, though she supposed that was because they were used to the Whispering Woods protecting them.

The problem she ran into was that there were a lot of windows in the palace. Catra figured that peeking in each one wasn’t the best way to find Adora’s room. It probably was the best way, however, to get a few too many spears thrown in her direction. Not her idea of fun.

So instead, she waited. Thankfully, Adora didn’t disappoint, and after what felt like hours, but was in truth only half of one, she not so inconspicuously threw open her window, rolling out a rope, as if Catra needed it.

Instead, she dug her claws into the palace walls, almost crawling up the side, rolling into Adora’s room with a triumphant “Ha!”

She was met with another hug from Adora. There’d been a lot of those in the past few days. Catra could get used to that. In fact, she kind of wanted another, but it felt inappropriate to ask. Especially when Catra saw the look on Adora’s face. It took Catra a few seconds to figure out why Adora would look so defeated, but then it hit her. Princess, probably dead.

“Hey,” Catra said, trying to find a way to comfort Adora without complimenting a princess. “I’m… I’m here for you.” She decided upon. “If you ever need a bunkmate, just call me up, yeah?”

Adora smiled weakly, pulling Catra into another hug. “I’ve missed you.” She whispered to Catra.

“I’ve… I’ve missed you too.” Catra said, returning the hug. Before either of them could speak again, there was a knock at Adora’s door. They both froze.

“Hide.” Adora whispered, suddenly tense. “Glimmer got pulled aside by her mother, it might be one of them.”

Catra nodded, jumping behind the curtain around Adora’s bed, something she would have snorted at if she hadn’t been hiding like a teenager almost caught making out with her girlfriend. That thought made Catra blush, but she was quickly distracted by Adora’s voice.

“Queen Angella.” Adora said, and Catra winced at the awkward nervousness in her voice. “And Glimmer. What are you two doing here?”

“My daughter has informed me that you are,” the queen paused for a second, and in that time, Catra knew she needed to start planning a way out, “entertaining another guest. A Horde guest.”

“Why would she say that?” Adora asked, and Catra smirked, imagining the feigned innocent look she was wearing, and the simmering anger underneath. “No, really, why would she say that?”

“It’s alright, Adora.” Catra said, standing. She’d found her way out (coincidentally, the same way she came in) and the queen obviously knew she was there. “Let her see.”

Adora stepped aside, and Catra came face to face with Queen Angella, leader of the Rebellion. Catra crossed her arms, smirking. “You know,” she said, “I was expecting someone more intimidating. I’ve heard all the stories, and wow, I’m kind of disappointed.”

As the queen narrowed her eyes, Catra decided that it had probably not been the best idea to open this conversation up with an insult, but it was her knee jerk reaction. Here was her enemy, the person she’d been taught to hate for all her life, standing before her, and Catra was very honestly not impressed.

“Guards.” Catra smirked as two of the queen’s men stepped in. She took a step back, prepared to jump out Adora’s window. Then the guards leveled net launchers, and Catra froze. Catra hated nets, a hate that disguised a fear she’d only ever admitted to Adora.

Nets were like cages. She hated cages on an instinctual level. Shadow Weaver had put Catra in cages for days at a time to discipline her before Adora had found out and forced her to stop. Adora, who had She-Ra’d up just as the queen’s guards launched their nets, stepping in front of Catra and slicing them out of the air.

Catra’s eyes widened as she looked around Adora, to the stunned queen and panicked guards. “You would betray us?” Angella asked. Behind her Glimmer had the same shock, shock that quickly turned to anger.

“I left her once before.” Adora said, and Catra could hear the sadness in her voice. “I won’t do it again.” With those words, whatever anger Catra still had directed at Adora evaporated.

The Queen turned her surprised look into a glare. “Then you are no better than she is. Guards, seize them both.”

The queen’s two guards glanced between each other, probably trying to figure out how they were supposed to capture an eight foot tall magic warrior and her angry cat friend with two net guns. Adora solved that problem for them, turning and scooping Catra up, leaping out the window with all the grace of an invincible eight foot tall warrior. Which was not a lot.

Catra was smart enough to separate herself from Adora, landing on her feet, with all the grace of a cat. Adora hit the ground hard, and stood slowly. Catra smirked, ignoring the nudgings of worry on the edge of her mind. “Nice landing.” She said, walking over to Adora, who transformed back into her normal self.

“Yeah, yeah.” Adora groaned, turning and looking to her window, where the Queen and Glimmer stood, watching them.

“We should go.” Catra said, looking from them to the castle’s gate, where soldiers were starting to emerge.

Adora saluted the royalty before turning back to the forest. “Come on, I think I know a place that we can hide in.” She said. “If I can find it, and it doesn’t try to kill us.”

“Wonderful, that’s what I love to hear.” Catra said with a grin. “Lead on.”

\--

Letting Adora lead had not been the best idea. They were three hours in, and hadn’t seen any Horde soldiers or princesses, which was nice, but it was also because they were completely lost, which wasn’t. In Adora’s defense, she had said it would be safe if she could find it.

Speaking of Warrior Princess number one…

“COME ON!” She was yelling at a rock. “We’ve passed this rock three times already! And we were walking in a STRAIGHT LINE!”

Catra snickered. “It could be worse, Adora. At least we haven’t run into anyone. Maybe we should just sleep, see if we can find it in the morning. Or, hell, if it’s like half of the princess magic I’ve seen, it’ll find us”

Adora shook her head. “No, I got this. I can find this stupid place. We can’t just hope it finds us.” She said. “Plus what’s it supposed to do, glow and make noise?”

Catra would save that memory for the rest of her life. Adora, just finishing her sentence, the forest lighting up behind her with a low pitched goraning, Adora, turning, cursing out the forest for a minute strait.

After Adora was done, she said. “Come on, Catra.” But Catra was still too busy laughing. “It wasn’t even that- you know what, fine.”  And then Adora scooped her up, carrying Catra bridal style towards the glowing light. “Wha- whoah!” Catra exclaimed, before she realized what was happening. When she did though, she flushed. She could live with more of this.

As they neared the entrance to the ruins,a part of the floor fell away, revealing another hallway. It was dark down there, though, and something about it felt… Wrong. Adora set Catra right, pulling out her sword.

“Well then.” Catra said, eyeing the ramp down warily. “After you?”

Adora grimaced, leading the way with her sword out. Just as they got off the ramp, it retracted into the ceiling, trapping them.

“Wonderful. Lovely.” Catra said. “I hope you know how to get us out of here.”

“Worst comes to worst, I’ll just blast us a way out.” Adora said.

“That’s…” Catra paused, looking at the ceiling. “That’s not as comforting as you might think.

“Only one thing to do now, then.” Adora said, pointing down the dimly lit hallway. Where the light was even coming from baffled Catra, though she didn’t think much on it. “Now come on, let's get moving.”

Adora led the way. The two came to a pitch black room, lit only by a tiny speck of light and the glow from Adora’s sword. As they moved further into the room, the door behind them shut.

“I guess we have to check out the light.” Adora whispered. Catra, with no other ideas, followed. They crouched around the light, and as Adora reached out to try to touch it, there was a blinding flash. When Catra opened her eyes, her heart sank into her stomach. They were in the one place neither of them could be. The Fright Zone.


	4. Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gotta love the old memory-o-matic the First One's built

Catra felt her hair stand on end, and she crouched down, trying to figure out where in the hell she was.

But then she heard it. “Adora! Adora!” And, much to her disbelief, a younger version of herself ran by, cadets uniform all crumpled up, one arm scratched, but smiling broader than the real Catra had done in a long, long time.

“Catra, what did you do.” Catra turned and saw a younger Adora as well. She couldn’t have been more than eleven, and Catra assumed the same was true of herself.

“C’mon, Shadow Weaver is gonna kill whoever she finds.” Catra said, laughing as she pulled Adora along.

“Catra, what did you do?” The younger Adora asked again, but she was laughing too, letting the younger Catra pull her along.

“What… What is this place?” Catra turned as the normal Adora asked it, relieved that someone else could see what was going on.

“I think… I think it’s using our memories.” Catra said. “This was the time Shadow Weaver stopped using cages to punish me.”

“Oh.” Adora said, and they both heard the shriek.

“Shadow Weaver just found us.” Catra said, and true to her words, the sorcerer came back into view, dragging a frozen Catra behind her. An irate Adora followed them.

“Stop it!” The younger Adora yelled at Shadow Weaver, waving her fists. “Leave her alone! It was me!”

That made Shadow Weaver stop. “You are the one who put smoke bombs in my room?” She asked, a dangerous gleam in her eyes. “And not this imbecile?”

“You don't have to watch.” Adult Adora said to Catra, just as her younger self said. “Yes. I did it.”

“Don’t Adora!” The younger Catra yelled as she was unfrozen. Shadow Weaver reached out, though, taking Adora by the hair.

“I don't care which of you brats did it. If you want to take her punishment, do it.” She dragged Adora away, ignoring the younger Catra’s increasingly desperate pleas.

“What did… What did she do to you?” Adult Catra asked. “You never told me.”

Adora was silent for a few seconds, and for a time, Catra thought she wasn’t going to answer.

“She did what she said she would.” Adora finally said. “She gave me your punishment.”

Their view shifted, this time to inside the Black Garnet’s chamber, where young Adora was trapped inside a cage, but still stared defiantly back at Shadow Weaver as the sorceress lectured her on how she shouldn’t stick with a girl who would only get in trouble, who was nothing compared to her.

Before Catra could say anything, ask Adora anything, the room went black again, and Catra couldn’t even see the glow of Adora’s sword. A moment later, though, they were on the roof of a building in the Fright Zone, one that Catra remembered well.

There was Catra and Adora, almost as old as they were now, laughing, crowding around an old device Catra had dug out of a junkyard. It was older than most of the buildings in the Fright Zone, but Catra had figured out how to make it work. It was a polaroid camera, or so the side of it read, and as they clicked away, a small pile of pictures sat beneath them.

“Only two pieces of film left.” A younger Adora said.

“Might as well make them count.” Catra said it with her younger self, knowing what was coming. Catra pulled Adora closer so that they were shoulder to shoulder, clicking away their last two pieces of film.

“You get one and I get one.” Adora said.

“So even if we’re apart, we can still feel like we’re together.” Catra said. “Cause we’re always gonna be together, right?”

“Of course!” Young Adora said, laughing, turning to the younger Catra. They paused for a long moment, realizing just how close they were.

“We’ll always be together.” Adora said in a much quieter voice, and Catra wasn’t sure if she had heard the adult Adora, this younger illusion, or both.

The room went black again, just as she saw both her younger self and Adora blush.

Another memory, this time one Catra didn’t recognize. She and the real Adora stood on the roof of a building, and as Catra looked out, over the forest, she realized where. They were in Bright Moon, or rather on top of Bright Moon, and before her stood Adora, looking much like she did now, reaching into one of her pockets.

“What are you getting?” Catra asked the real Adora, who only smiled and nodded to the scene.

Catra approached the fake Adora, looking over her shoulder to see her unfold a picture. The one Catra had just seen being taken. There they were, a little younger, and much happier, captured forever. Had Catra been paying less attention, she would have missed the single tear that fell, spattering against the cold marble of the castle.

“Oh.” Was all Catra got to say before the room went dark again, and this time, they reappeared in the Horde barracks.

It was night, or Catra assumed so, because all of the bunks were filled. All save Catra’s.

She found herself curled up on Adora’s old bunk, re-scratching hers and Adora’s faces into the side of the bunk, just above where she’d mared them before. And then she remembered exactly what this memory was.

Adora was by the real Catra’s side, watching this play out with a small, sad smile. As they watched, the fake Catra reached into her uniform’s breast pocket, and Catra knew what she was getting. Just as before, a picture was unfolded, the one fake Adora had been holding moments before.

And then the room was dark again, but this time, Catra could see the glow of Adora’s sword.

“I…” Adora trailed off, but Catra finished her sentence.

“Didn’t think I’d keep it?” She asked. She paused for a second when the strange artificial lighting returned to the room, seeming to come both from everywhere and nowhere. At least they could see each other again.

“I could say the same for you.” Catra continued. “I guess… I guess I always wanted you back in the Horde, and you always wanted me to get out, huh?”

“And now you’re not in the Horde and I’m not a part of the Alliance.” Adora said. “But we’re together. Funny how that works.”

Catra heard the touch of sadness in Adora’s voice as she spoke of the Alliance. It almost made her grimace. She had no problems with Adora leaving the Alliance, but it was clear that it had been a painful choice.

“Hey, look, if it would make you feel better, we can go beat up some of our old friends.” Catra said. “Help the Alliance out without going back to Bright Moon. All we have to do is get out of wherever we are.”

Adora nodded, but Catra could tell she wasn’t convinced. Truth be told, neither was Catra. The Alliance would need more than a former Horde soldier and She-Ra running around smacking things. They needed unity, and someone to rally around, and without Adora…

Adora, who had walked to the edge of what looked like an intentional cliff in the building, and was now far too close for Catra’s liking.

“Adora.” She said, stepping towards her. “Why are you looking over the ledge, Adora?”

Just to be sure there wasn’t some giant spider (or worse, a mouse) sitting just out of her line of sight, Catra peeked over the edge. There was only blackness.

“I feel like…” Adora trailed off. “I feel like I’m supposed to go down there.”

“That’s interesting.” Catra said, deciding that now was a good time to leave. She took a step back from the ledge, tugging on Adora’s arm, forcing her to follow. “How about we don't go down dark holes and get out of this place. I’d rather not see any more of my memories.”

Adora followed her to one of the still closed doors, shaking her head.

“So, do you know how to open this or-” Catra didn’t even get to finish before Adora was replaced with She-Ra and the door was blasted into the hall it had barred them from. As the dust settled, a few chunks of rock fell from the ceiling above them. “Cool. Let’s hope more of that doesn't bring this place down on top of us.”

Adora was silent. Catra turned to here narrowing her eyes as Adora looked back to the ledge she’d left behind.

“You alright?” Catra asked.

Adora shook her head, though it seemed that was just to clear it. “I’m fine. Let’s just get out of here.”


	5. To War

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Catra decided that Adora needs someone to punch. Who better than her old friends at the Horde?

Getting out wasn’t fun. Adroa cracking open a door with her fist had summoned some very unfriendly robotic spiders, and they two had to junk a half a dozen of them before they could get out.

In the end, Adora did have to blast them out, but the both of them managed to avoid the rubble that fell behind them, so it could have been worse. The two wound up sleeping in the clearing, next to the First One’s ruins.

When they woke the next day, Adora seemed listless, unfocused. Catra knew what they had to do, but also knew that she did not want to come face to face with the people who had been her… They hadn’t been her friends. She’d felt no loyalty, only anger at being left behind and desperation to prove herself equal to, if not better than Adora.

Catra didn’t really want to fight them, not yet. But she knew Adora needed something. So instead of keeping her mouth shut, Catra spoke. “You ready to fight?” She asked Adora.

Adora looked up, raising an eyebrow. “Do you want to fight?” She asked. “It’s only been a few days since you left them.”

Catra shrugged. “You…” She shook her head. “Yeah, I can fight them.”

Adora paused, and Catra could tell she was about to ask what Catra had been about to say.

Catra headed that off. “Come on, we have to find somebody to fight before we can actually brawl. Now is as good a time as any.” She said, turning away from Adora before she could respond. When Adora didn’t follow her after a few paces, Catra turned, raising an eyebrow. “You coming?” She asked.

Adora smiled and nodded, following Catra deeper into the forest. They hiked through the Whispering Woods, and, for a brief time, it didn’t seem so bad to Catra, not with Adora watching her back.

They made it to Perfuma’s domain, though, and everything changed. In a bright, happy, annoying way. Catra had no idea how these flower loving idiots had survived so long, or how they’d managed to hold the Horde off for months, and this trip into their part of the Whispering Woods didn’t answer any of those questions.

It took them another day or so to find the front line, or what Catra assumed was the front line. There weren’t any princesses here, just the artificial treeline and Horde machinery trying to cut deeper into the forest. Without the device they’d used to poison the forest before Adora had destroyed it, they hadn’t made much headway.

Behind them sat a Horde base camp, complete with tanks and soldiers on sentry duty. Catra watched it nervously, not quite sure how they’d deal with that many guns. She had a feeling Adora’s entire plan was She-Ra and attack.

Adora seemed happy about that, and Catra could tell she was ready for a fight. By the way she was rolling her shoulders and shifting her grip on her sword, Adora expected it to be soon.

“Hold on.” Catra said, reaching out and taking one of Adora’s hands, preventing her from taking the sword in her standard two handed grip. Adora raised an eyebrow, so Catra continued. “We need to wait first. It’s just us, with no one to back us up. We need to plan at least our first few moves. Or have you forgotten how to fight without princesses backing you up?

Adora rolled her eyes. “No, I haven’t. But She-Ra can take a lot. Wouldn’t you rather just hit them now with her instead of waiting?” She asked.

“There are at least four tanks that we can see.” Catra said. “And I know you’ve taken one of their shots before. How fun was that?”

Adora rolled her eyes. “Fine.” She said. “We can do it your way.”

“Okay, look,” Catra started to raise her hand, only to find it was still holding Adora’s. There was a long silence between them, in which Catra only blushed, and Adora raised an eyebrow, holding back a laugh and a blush herself.

“Did you forget?” Adora finally asked.

“N-no.” Catra said. “I just… wanted you to point with me.” Adora smirked, and Catra could tell she’d seen right through her lie. Granted, a toddler could have, but it still made Catra blush, again.

But she would stick to it, no matter how odd it was. So instead of doing the normal thing, Catra pointed, still holding Adora’s hand with her own. “I say we get as close as possible to the tanks. You do your thing and take the two on the left. I’ll take the two on the right. We can do it your way after that.”

Adora smirked. “You going to let go of my hand now?” She asked.

Catra rolled her eyes (hiding another blush as best she could) and turned from Adora. “Sure, whatever. Lets just do this and get out.” She said.

It went fairly well, which surprised Catra. Even with the flashing and noise from Adora’s transformation, the two of them still managed to take out the tanks without them getting off a shot. It wasn’t until they started fighting hand to hand that they had to change the plan.

“They’re here for the prisoners!” One of the Horde soldiers yelled. “Get them!” Catra and Adora shared a glance, one twirling a ‘borrowed’ stun blasted, the other readying her sword.

“Thanks for the tip!” Catra yelled at the soldiers, cackling as three went down to her and another four fell to one sweep of Adora’s sword. One the few soldiers dumb enough to keep coming at them were down, Catra said. “We should probably find these prisoners and get them out.”

Adora nodded, but as she did so, a second round of Horde soldiers, led by another tank, rolled forward to face them. “You find them.” Adora told her. “And I’ll take this bunch. Meet back here in a few.”

Catra smirked. “Don’t do anything stupid.” She told Adora, before leaping off, avoiding  the poorly aimed stunblasts shot her way.

It wasn’t hard to figure out where the prisoners were. The Horde made every one of their camps the same way. The ‘prison’ would have to be a repurposed barrack, and Catra could easily tell which one they used by the four guards clustered around its entrance.

They were easy to bring down, and the door was even easier to open. When she looked inside, though, she realized they had a far bigger problem than she’d thought. Catra had expected a handful of prisoners, easy to move and hide. No problem to get out of the camp. She was met, however, with dozens of concerned faces, and at their front, the blonde princess.

“Wonderful.” Catra said, paleing at the sight.

  
  



	6. Rescue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Guess who it is? Your favorite (and only) flower princess.

Half the prisoners surged back, and half forwards. Catra had to punch one in the gut and bare her teeth before they backed off, all the while yelling to be heard over their fearful yells.

“HOLD!” It was the blonde princess, and her people seemed to listen, so Catra started talking before her window closed.

“Alright, here’s how this is going to go.” Catra said, trying to look less like a Horde soldier and more like someone who was there to help. Even with restraints, they could still swarm her. “I’m going to find the keys. You, princess, whatever your name is-”

“Perfuma.” The princess supplied.

“Perfuma, start freeing people, but keep everyone in here. I’m going to go get Adora, and then we’ll get you out of here. But you have to stay out of sight until we get back, got it?”

The princess nodded, which was good enough for Catra. A quick search of the guards she’d taken out provided a key card, which she gave to Perfuma. “Stay out of sight.” She said again.

Finding Adora, at least, wasn’t that hard. While she was She-Ra, she had no need, nor capability, to be stealthy. Catra had to only follow her ears to find her, blasting away at a duo of tanks and a handful of Horde Soldiers.

“We’ve got larger problems!” Catra tried to yell over the sound of the fight, leaping in to end it. “There’s at least fifty rebels being kept in the second barracks. I’ve got the princess unlocking them, but we’re going to have to escort them back to their side.”

Adora finished the soldiers with a flourish, throwing three of them into a wall and finishing the last tank with a blast. “Okay, what?” She asked.

Catra explained the situation again, and they were running for where she’d left the prisoners minutes ago. Catra and Adora were met with a half dozen makeshift weapons, though they were lowered when they saw who it was.

“Perfuma.” Adora said. “I didn’t realize you’d been…”

“Captured?” Perfuma asked, as Catra stepped aside, allowing a stream of Perfuma’s people out of the cramped space. “It happened not long after you left us.”

There was no malice in her voice, but Catra still felt the need to defend Adora. “Do you mean not long after you left?” She asked. “Because if I’m not mistaken, you were the one to leave Adora, not the other way around.”

Perfuma recoiled at Catra’s words, but before she, or anyone else could defend her, Adora stepped in. “What is done is done.” She said. “The only thing that matters now is getting everyone out of here. Perfuma, can you get these people organized? Catra and I need to make sure we didn’t miss anyone.”

Perfuma glanced between them before nodding. “I can do that… But, I do have something for you, after all of this.” She said.

Adora paused at that, but shrugged. “I’ll find you once we get everyone out of here.” She said. “Lets go, Catra.”

As it turned out, they did miss a handful of Horde soldiers, but they were all to happy to run when they saw She-Ra. After that, things went smoothly. The former prisoners were natives to this part of the forest, and they had no problems returning home, which left Catra, Adora, and Perfuma together on the edge of the treeline.

Perfuma held a scroll out to Adora. “I… I wanted to say thank you.” She said. “And give you this.”

Adora unrolled the scroll, blinked a few times, and then looked back to Perfuma. Catra was equally confused. It did not seem to be a good time to hold another ball, especially not after the disbanding of the Alliance, She-Ra’s departure from the rebellion, and Entrapta’s death.

“Since the last one was…” Perfuma glanced to Catra, choosing her words carefully “interrupted, we’re holding another. It’s in Entrapta’s honor.” She said. “And… You were right. We do need an Alliance. Maybe we can start again, here.”

Catra answered before Adora could. “We’ll go.” She said with a smirk. “I just need to get something to wear. And so does Adora.”

Adora shrank down to her normal size, glancing from Catra to the invitation. “We’ll go?” She asked. Catra nodded, so Adora finished with, “I mean, sure, yes, we’ll be there.”

As Perfuma left them with promises that they could be her guests in the days leading up to the ball and that they could use the best tailors she had to offer, Adora turned to Catra. “Why are we going to this?” She asked.

“Well, last time Operation: Make Adora Jealous didn’t work-” Catra started to say.

“Operation what?” Adora cut in, but Catra waved that off.

“Don’t worry about it.” She said. “Point is, I want to enjoy the ball this time around. And, hopefully, no one will be planting heat bombs this time around.”

“Yeah…” Adora said with a smirk, “What kind of person would even do that? Or name their plan Operation: Make Adora Jealous?”

Catra rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Come on, we should get moving.” She said, in lieu of an actual answer.

Catra kept moving, more to force Adroa to stop asking questions than she already had. As she did so, a thought struck her. She stopped, turning back to Adora “Why…” She paused before continuing. “Why did you try to save me, at the ball? Both of those times?”

Adora let a silence hang between them for a few moments. “Let’s get away from here.” She said, taking the lead and heading deeper into the forest. “I’ll answer on the way.”

For a few minutes, Catra thought Adora was just going to ignore the question as they walked deeper into the forest. She was wrong.

“When you were about to go over the edge…” Adora shook her head as she said it. “I just… I panicked. I thought you were just going to fall, and that it would be my fault. I just… I reacted. I had to catch you.”

Adora paused for a second, leaning against a tree. Catra reached out, putting a hand on her shoulder. “You…” She trailed off, not quite sure what she was going to  say, or what she should say.

“And then, when we were both falling, it just…” Adora shook her head with a laugh, “It felt right somehow. Sure, we were a hair away from dying, but we were together, and if we were together, then we could take on anything. And I had a way to stop us, and I needed you to know that we were in this together, that I wasn’t going to let you drop. I thought maybe, just maybe, it might mean something to you, anything. When you let yourself fall…”

There was a long silence, in which Adora stared off into the distance, looking for words, and Catra waited, holding her tongue until Adora was done. “It scared me, so bad.” Adora finally said, her voice shaking. “I thought you were dead, and I just… I didn’t understand why you would let go, let yourself drop. When I saw you in that ship, god…” Adora shook her head, “I was so relieved to know you were alive. I mean, I was angry as hell too, you’d just taken Bow and Glimmer, but still…. God, I thought you were dead.”

Catra squeezed Adora’s shoulder, trying to comfort her. “Well, how about this time, neither of us will fall of any buildings, and I won’t let go of your hand the entire time?” Catra asked. “Sound good?” It wasn’t great but… something in Catra’s chest had nearly broken. She didn’t trust herself to say anything else.

Adora laughed. “You don't have to go that far.” She said. “Just don’t die and we’ll be alright.”

“I think I can manage that.” Catra said with a smile. After a pause, she added. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

And so they did.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	7. The Ball

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Princess Ball, 2.0. This one will feature a disgusting lack of explosions, though makes up for it with ROMANCE

 

  
  
  
  
  
  


Catra knew what she was doing. She’d left Adora with nothing but a color and instructions to get a dress to match. She knew exactly what she was doing, which is why, when the night of the ball came, she arrived at their meeting point of all the confidence of a stalking cat.

Confidence that drained away, however, when she saw Adora. She was wearing nearly the same dress she had the first time around. The only real difference was its color, darkened to match Catra’s suit. The suit Catra had picked out specifically to see the look Adora had given her the first time around. The holy shit I’m in love look, except now Catra was too busy giving it to Adora to notice the one she got in return.

Without a plan she needed to stick too, and built up anger suppressing her… other emotions, the full force of Adora in a dress hit her. Catra did her best to form a full sentence, but it came out like, “uh, well, do you… can.”

Thankfully, Adora was distracted by Catra’s suit for long enough for Catra to recover. “Follow me?” She asked. Much less suave than she would have liked, but it was better than nothing.

Adora straightened up, shook her head, and nodded. And just like that, things went back to normal, or as normal as they could be with Catra in a suit and Adora in a dress. “Of course.” Adora said with a smile and a blush. “Just remember, no brawling here. We’re supposed to start making friends again, and you’re my plus one. If you get kicked out, I get kicked out.”

Catra rolled her eyes. “I’m not going to get into trouble, mom.” She said. “I’m going to be civil and try to get princesses to join us. Us, not Bright Moon.”

“We’ll be talking the princesses up for a unified princess alliance, regardless of who leads it.” Adora corrected. “Now come on.”

Catra grumbled something unflattering at that, but followed Adora, greeting Perfuma with the same low bow she’d remembered form the previous ball, feeling the eyes of nearly all the other guests on hers and Adora’s backs.

After they’d left Perfuma with promises to return later in the evening, they met at the buffet, each surveying the room. “We doing this together or splitting up?” She asked.

“Splitting up. It looks better that way, I think.” Adora sad, surveying the crowd. “Try to avoid Frosta, though. I don't think she’d be too happy to see you.”

“Yeah, I think you’re right.” Catra said. “Maybe I’ll-”

Catra cut herself off with a curse, looking over Adora’s shoulder. Adora turned, following her gaze, and discovered why. Striding too them, looking far more confident than any one standing that short should, was the princess Glimmer.

“You want me to leave?” Catra whispered in the few seconds they had left until Glimmer could hear them.

“Please don’t.” Adora whispered back.

Catra smiled at that. “Right here with you.” She said as Glimmer came to a stop in front of them.

“Adora.” Glimmer said, a brutal edge in her voice.

“Glimmer, it’s… it’s good to see you again.” Adora said, trying to stay civil.

Glimmer was silent for a long pause, her eyes darting between Adora and Catra. “Can I- Can we talk? In private?” She looked at Catra significantly.

“We can.” Adora said, narrowing her eyes, reaching out to take Catra’s hand. She smiled at that, glad Adora trusted her more than the little princess. Still, they needed to rebuild the princess alliance, and Glimmer was a princess…

“Don’t worry about it.” Catra said, even though she inwardly grimaced at what she imagined Glimmer might say to Adora in private. “I’ll do my job. You do yours.”

Adora looked to her, an eyebrow raised. Even now, she was giving Catra a choice to undo all of that and force Glimmer to either deal with them both or not at all. How sweet. Catra winked at Adora, turning from her. “Don't have too much fun without me.” She said, not looking back to see quite where Glimmer took Adora.

It didn’t go well after that. Catra ran into Frosta by accident, and no amount of apologies would abate the eleven year olds anger. After that, it seemed few in the party wanted her company. Catra wound up on a natural balcony made by a tree branch, watching the ball go one below, waiting for Adora to re-emerge from wherever Glimmer had taken her.

But it seemed that there was one person who wanted to see her.

“Hi, uh, my name’s Bow. We met a few times.” Catra turned to see the archer, now in a suit and without his bow holding out a hand with an awkward smile.

Catra shook it, deciding that it was probably the best way to be rid of him. “Yeah, you’re the one who follows Glimmer everywhere.” She said.

“Yeah, we’re a team.” Bow said with a smile, taking her words as an invitation to stick around. Catra internally grimaced, waiting for him to speak again. “Kid of like you and Adora, just not, you know…”

He trailed off, as if Catra was supposed to actually know what he meant. “I know what?” Catra asked, narrowing her eyes.

“Romantic?” Bow said with a nervous smile.

“Ro- romantic?” Catra sputtered for a second. “What makes you think that?”

There was a lot that could have, Catra knew, but she had to keep up a front. It’s not like she’d never thought about it, about how much time she and Adora spent together before everything, how desperate their fights were, and yet how neither of them could bring themselves to really hurt the other.

“Well, you two were sleeping together like, the first night you could.” Bow said. “And… I probably shouldn’t say.”

“Shouldn’t say what?” Catra jumped on his hesitation, hoping that he would ignore the flush that the memory of Adora holding her conjured up.

“Adora…” Bow scratched his head nervously. “We’ll, she got drunk once, after we’d won a battle… and she said some stuff.”

Catra stopped herself from blushing (or tried to. Bow’s smile told her she wasn’t successful) instead crossing her arms, an eyebrow raised. “Care to elaborate?” She asked Bow. Catra hadn’t taken Adora for one to overindulge (they’d never been allowed anything even close to alcoholic in the Horde) but what she’d say as a drunk was… Interesting to Catra, to say the least.

“She talked about you…” Bow said. “A lot. Constantly. And… Well, some of it made us think you two were a thing. All of it, really.”

“A thing?” Catra asked, though she knew very well what Bow meant. She just wanted to hear it from him. Not to mention the fact that her face was probably bright red, and she needed time to cool down.

“A couple. We all thought you two were a couple before she left.” Bow said, and Catra finally couldn’t conceal her grin.

“What do you know.” Catra whispered to herself. “Thanks for that, Bow.” As she said it, she leapt from their makeshift balcony, ignoring Bow’s shout of surprise. She shook her head as she landed, trying to clear out those lingering thoughts. Bow was probably just wrong. There was no way Adora saw her as a… more than friend. No way. It wouldn’t stop her from teasing Adora about it though, once she was out of that dress and back in clothes that didn’t make Catra’s head spin.

It took her a few minutes to figure out where Glimmer had taken Adora. But there were only so many places two people could go to talk in private, so it wasn’t too hard to find them.

Glimmer was pacing a clearing, just in front of Adora, who stood with her arms crossed. And they were talking about her.

“I don't understand,” Glimmer was saying, “why she means so much to you. She stayed in the Horde, even after she knew what they were doing. She tried to kill you! Why do you love her?”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	8. Amongst Flowers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And, finally, we have it

Catra stopped herself from jumping out there and cursing the younger princess out. It helped that she’d just about gone into shock at Glimmer’s words. Had she said love? Catra’s eyes darted to Adora, waiting for what she’d say.

“Glimmer, I’m only going to say this one more time.” Adora said, and from the tone of her voice, Catra could tell she’d said it many times before. “Catra and I go way back. Way, way back. We look out for each other. I am not leaving her, and I am not returning to Bright Moon without her. We go back together, or not at all.”

“But…” Glimmer paused. “Did I mean nothing to you?” She finally asked, in a small voice. “Did we mean nothing to you?”

“Don’t.” Adora growled, and Catra almost flinched back. She’d never heard Adora that angry. “Don’t do that. I was your friend, that’s it Glimmer.”

“Right.” And now Glimmer was angry. “Because you were always pinning over her.”

Catra’s hair stood on end, and she was forced to restrain herself from leaping out of her hiding spot, again. Instead, she focused on Adora.

“Yeah, I was.” Adora said softly, and Catra’s heart almost stopped. And then Adora added, with far more force, “I wouldn’t be anything without her. Anything. I’d wait for years, if I had to. I’d wait ‘till the end of the goddamn world for Catra.” Catra gulped and flushed, glad she hadn’t charged in.

Glimmer didn’t get a chance to speak again. “I’m done with this, Glimmer. Done fighting with you. I want to be your friend, but Catra comes first. She’ll always come first.”

With that, Adora turned, storming back to the ball without so much as a goodbye. Catra waited a pause to see if Glimmer would follow. Instead, the princess turned and stalked off the exact opposite way, deeper into the forest.

After a long pause, Catra returned to the ball, looking for Adora. It happened the other way around, Adora tapping Catra on the shoulder as the latter scanned the ball from the buffet table.

“We need to talk.” She said, after they’d found each other.

Catra let Adora lead her into Perfuma’s gardens. With everyone at the ball, they were empty. They were also beautiful, even in the half light of dusk.

Rows and rows of plants of every shade, arranged in mazes and beautiful paters stretched on until the forest returned, a bright spot of beauty in an otherwise dark forest.

Adora led her into a maze, and then through a hole in a rosebush. There, Catra found a small clearing, bordered by prickly roses. It was just large enough for Adora and Catra to sit across from each other without pressing themselves into the bushes.

There was a pause in which neither of them spoke, but their eyes met for several long seconds. They eventually broke eye contact, flushing.

“I… I wanted to tell you some things.” Adora said. “About why I had to leave, and why I… I need you to stay.”

“I…” Catra took a deep breath. “Okay.” She said. There was silence for a long, loud second.

“You’ve seen what I saw, what the Horde was doing.” Adroa started. “But that… That was only half of it. When I got the sword, I finally figured it out. I saw, for the first time, what they were really doing to me, what they had already done. Convincing me that everything they did was right, everything Hordak said was true. When I saw the rebellion, what they were trying to protect… I couldn’t leave them to die. I had to do something.”

“And then I could use the sword, and I thought… This is it, this is what I was meant to do.” Adora shook her head. “But, it was never right, it never felt right. I always knew why, I think. I could just never admit it. I fought, I talked, I did everything I could to try to not think about…”

There was another long silence. Adora reached out, taking Catra’s hand, steeling herself for what she was about to say.

“I did everything I could to not think about you.” She finally said. Catra’s eyes widened, and she opened her mouth to speak, but Adora kept rolling on, not giving her a chance to cut in. “I couldn’t stop, though. I thought about you being punished in my place, about you having to deal with Shadow Weaver alone… I almost went back, so many times. I thought about just… Taking you, not giving you a choice, but I knew I could never do that to you. Every time I got up, I’d always wonder where you were, what you were doing. Every time I fought it was… It was for you, Catra. Everything I did, I was always thinking about you.”

“I did everything I could, but nothing felt right, not without you. And then we were at that ball together, and we were hanging off of that roof, and I thought things would get better. And you dropped, and if you had died-” she shook her head, “I- I would never have forgiven myself, and that’s when I knew, I really knew what this was.”

“And then I went to rescue Glimmer, and you gave me the sword, and I thought maybe this is it, maybe this is us coming back together. And when I saw Shadow Weaver, I knew, I knew I couldn’t let you die.” She smiled as she said it. “All of this? Leaving the Alliance, the memories, I feel like it’s been building up to one big moment. And it has, and now we’re in the moment, and I’m dancing around what I’ve known all along because I’m afraid Catra. Afraid of what this means, of what you’ll say. But I can’t, not anymore. I need you to know” There was a long pause, as Adroa closed her eyes and squeezed Catra’s hands. “I’m in love with you, Catra.”

Catra was silent for a long second, then another. She’d heard what Adora had said to Glimmer, but even with that, this was not what Catra’d expected. Before she could speak, Adora took the silence as a queue to continue. “I just… I know there’s probably too much between us, and I know you don't feel the same way, but I need you to stay. Please, I can put this aside and move on, but-”

“No.” Adora’s mouth kept moving for a second, but she didn’t say anything else. Catra had said it with more force than she’d intended, but it was necessary. She would not let Adora go down that route, not while Catra’s brain was still exploding in cupid’s arrows and fireworks. After a pause, Catra spoke.

“Adora,” Catra said, almost a whisper, leaning her head forward, until it rested on Adora’s. “God, I missed you so much, every damn day. I wanted… I wanted so much. I wanted to leave, I wanted to stay, I wanted you to come back, I wanted you to stay away,” she shook her head, “I wanted us to be together. That’s the one thing I was always, always sure of.”

Adora’s breath caught in her throat, and Catra could see the hopeful, disbelieving look in her eyes, so she pressed on. “Adora…” Catra shook her head. ‘We’re always going to be together. It’s always going to be you for me, and me for you. This… This is everything I’ve wanted for a long, long time.”

Because that was the truth. In the end, she didn’t care where she was, or what she was doing. An ending with Adora was a happy ending for her. “I love you too, Adora.”

“Really?” Adora asked, the disbelief clear in her voice.

“Just shut up and kiss me, Adora.” Catra said.

And, like the angel she was, Adora did.

And, as they deserved, it was perfect.

**Author's Note:**

> WOO YAY  
> This'll be an eight part ordeal. It was written in the span of like three days, and while it's edited as best as I could, it hasn't been beta's so... there might be stupid mistakes. Who knows?


End file.
